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Wednesday, 5 June 2013

Indian Navy flotilla to visit Philippines in June

An Indian naval flotilla, composed of four ships from the Eastern Fleet, is scheduled to undertake a goodwill visit to the Philippines from June 12 to 16, the Indian Embassy in Manila announced on Tuesday.

The Indian naval ships include the indigenously-built guided missile stealth frigate Satpura, guided missile destroyer Ranvijay, guided missile corvette Kirch and the fleet tanker Shakti. The ships are under the command of Rear Admiral Ajit Kumar.

There would be around 800 officers and men of Indian Navy on board the vessels.

According to the Indian embassy, the two-month deployment to South-East Asia is far from India’s usual area of operations.

It said in a statement that during the deployment, the men onboard the battle group will interact with a wide cross-section of people from the different countries they would visit which would contribute to goodwill and understanding.

The embassy added that the flotilla will participate in “Passage Exercises” with the navies of the countries visited that would be focused on maritime security cooperation comprising humanitarian aid and disaster relief (HADR) operations and “Visit, Board, Search and Seizure” (VBSS) drills for anti-piracy operations.

“These exercises are aimed at increasing naval inter-operability, enabling the two navies to function together smoothly during possible HADR operations,” it said.

In addition, during the port visits, the Fleet Commander along with the Commanding Officers of the ships will meet high-ranking officials of the Armed Forces, Department of National Defense, state administration, port management, coastal security organization, police, and other stakeholders of maritime security to share professional experiences and exchange best practices in areas of mutual interest.